Sleepless Nights in Argus
by Dark-Syaoran
Summary: A private conversation is overheard in the dead of night, a conversation that shakes a young maidens heart. What is a young woman to do when confronted with such a truth?


She couldn't sleep.

Ever since the train derailment, she had been constantly on the move. It was one thing after another – the attack on the train, the origin of Ozpin and Salem, the Apathy Grimm in the old farm house, Ruby's silver eyes. There was little time to slow down, to take stock, to rest. Suffice to say, she was exhausted. Tired the likes of which she had very seldom felt. Arriving at Argus had been a godsend. Having ready accommodation in the form of Saphron Arc was just the cherry on top. She should have been out like a light like the rest of her team.

And yet she couldn't sleep.

It had nothing to do with Yang's snoring, though it was much louder than usual, the blonde girl no doubt equally as exhausted as she was. With each inhale, Weiss feared that the picture frames on the walls would rattle and fall off. It was like being in the same room as a tractor. Nor did it have anything to do with her strange new surroundings. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would ever be staying under the roof of one of Jaune's sisters. Sad to say but before today, she hadn't even known Jaune had one sister, let alone seven.

Another regret on an ever growing pile.

No, her brain just wouldn't shut off. It was as simple as that. And how could it? Whatever secret technique that her teammates possessed, it was beyond her. Whenever she closed her eyes, all she could see was Salem's face, ever changing; first that of an ordinary human girl, beautiful with lush blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, then of the twisted being she would become, red eyed and deathly pale, hair white like bone, the once wife of Ozpin – no, of Ozma the wizard.

But that wasn't all.

The God's really did exist. The Light and the Dark. The Two Brothers. Beings only ever talked about in fairy tales or lauded by the faithful.

And in a fit of petulance they had almost completely wiped out mankind.

It was difficult to accept. That all they knew about the world, about their very history was almost entirely wrong. Was it any wonder she couldn't sleep?

This was getting her no where.

Carefully, Weiss pulled back the covers and sat up, peering around the moonlit room. It filtered in through the blinds – the broken moon, the moon that the God's had broken! – allowing her to make out the silhouettes of her teammates. Blake was curled up tight, so tight she almost looked uncomfortable, like a cat seeking warmth, while Ruby had her arms and legs wrapped around her pillow so tight it looked ready to surrender. Yang was as expected, covers off, spread eagle, mouth attempting to break the sound barrier with each breath.

She had missed this.

Something was clearly wrong with her.

She didn't even try fighting it, a smile gracing her face. Sudden thirsty, she slipped out of bed, her toes digging into the lush carpet. Quietly moving across the room, Weiss stepped out into the hall, the door closing with a soft click. Creeping to the stairs, she silently padded down into the living room, night gown swishing about her legs, pausing in surprise when she noticed that the kitchen light was still on. Someone was talking, a female voice, a soft murmur – and before she could turn around and head back up the stairs, not wanting to interrupt, the answering voice stopped her cold.

It was male. Familiar.

Jaune.

Muffled as it was, Weiss recognised it immediately. Who was he talking to? No one from her team, they were all asleep upstairs.

She wavered for a moment before her curiosity won out, stepping closer to the kitchen door and peering through the thin crack.

"—them know you are here?" Saphron's form greeted her.

"I'll send a letter, I promise," Jaune replied, leaning against the counter. His sister was seated on the counter opposite him, legs kicking back and forth. "They must be worried. Have you heard from them lately?"

Saphron shook her head. "Not in awhile but the post takes forever. Dad wanted me to drop everything and come home after what happened in Vale. Just drag Terra and Adrian halfway across the world. He can be such a worrywart sometimes."

Jaune hummed.

"Was it as bad as they say?" Saphron asked softly, her legs coming to a stop. "We saw some of it on television, those Atlas droids attacking people before the feed cut."

"Worse," Jaune answered darkly. "The White Fang let Grimm into the city, even ferried them onto Amity. It-" he paused, taking a breath. "It was chaos."

"Sorry," she said after a beat of silence. "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories. I'm just glad you got out of there safe. I was beside myself, knowing you were right in the middle of all that."

"No, it's fine. I should have written, let you know what was going on – but things were pretty hectic after that. My mind was elsewhere."

"Right, this secret mission you guys are on. Sure you can't tell me what this is all about?"

Jaune shot her a cheeky smile. "Heh, sorry sis, top secret."

She rolled her eyes. "Right."

There was a lull in the conversation. Weiss pulled back, feeling a little guilty in having witnessed the private moment. It hadn't really been her intention. She was about to leave when Saphron said slyly, "So, you have some very pretty girl friends, little bro. Which one do you like?"

Weiss froze.

"Saph, cmon," Jaune groaned.

"What? You have eyes, right? They are all seriously hot," Saphron teased, earning another groan. "So which one is it?" When he remained silent, she continued, "You and Ruby seem pretty close."

"We aren't like that," Jaune answered at once. "We're just friends."

"Oh?"

"Best friends," he elaborated at her disbelieving tone. "She was the first person I met at Beacon."

"My little brother, approaching a girl?" she sounded highly skeptical. "No way. Tell a better lie."

"Hey, maybe she approached me first – ever think about that?"

She scoffed in response.

"Wow, so little faith. But if you must know, yeah, I approached her. She almost blew up the courtyard and was lying in a crater, so I gave her a hand up. She looked lonely."

Saphron stared at him. "She was – what?"

"Apparently she sneezed and set off some fire dust," Jaune laughed. "You think I'm awkward? Well, Ruby is like my double – only a girl and with dark hair. Socially awkward dynamic duo, that's us."

"Only you could make friends with a person who almost killed themselves," Saphron lamented. "Maybe mother dropped you as a child, I can't remember," at her brothers cross look, she waved her hand, "Okay, okay. I'm only teasing. She seems like a sweet girl. I like her. Love the goth look."

"Yeah, she's the best."

"So not Ruby – her sister then?" she waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Not bad, not bad – she has gorgeous hair, I know you have a thing for it being long. She'd fit right in at an Arc family reunion," she tapped her chin with a finger. "Hm, maybe a little too well."

"Yeeeah, no. Please don't mention anything like that around Yang; she gives me enough grief as it is. She doesn't need any more ammunition." Jaune pleaded.

"Oh? I sense a story coming."

A great war took place in his mind, visible on his face before finally with a sigh, he said, "I may have… thrown up on her boots, one time. Before we had even met. Officially." At Saphron's startled laugh, he flushed, "Look, you know that motion sickness—"

"—is more common than people think? You still going with that? You don't get motion sick, little bro. That doesn't work on me."

"Fine, I was nervous, okay? I was scared out of my mind, hoping I would fit in and not make an ass out of myself. Looking out the window didn't exactly help. We were pretty high up and moving kinda fast."

Saphron shook her head, looking at her brother fondly. "You really are hopeless."

"Haha," he fake laughed.

"So not Yang? Ah, I've got it," Saphron nodded in a sage manner. "The dark girl, Blake. Always knew you had a thing for a girl with cat ears. They are just the cutest, not going to lie."

"Me and Blake?" Jaune asked, laughing. "Nah. I think I'm way outside of her type range."

"But she is right inside yours, right? I remember those magazines I found in your room."

Jaune looked away. "No comment."

At this point, Weiss had almost forgotten she wasn't exactly meant to be listening in, nose almost touching the wood of the doorframe she was leaning in so far. When he turned his head away from his sister and faced the door, she felt her heart catch in her throat, for a moment thinking she had been caught. When he looked away again without saying a word, a shaky breath escaped her, heart pounding in her ears.

"Anyway, one of our other friends has a thing for her," Jaune said. "His name is Sun. Been trying to catch her eye for awhile now. Even if there was some outside chance, I wouldn't want to get in the way of that." He didn't mention that Blake wasn't particularly drawn to Sun quite the same way, though they did seem a lot closer the last he saw them together. Something had changed.

Saphron hummed. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

The silence this time stretched long, the brother and sister looking at one another, one expectant, and the other uneasy. Weiss looked at Jaune, feeling nervous for an entirely different reason now. Saphron had asked about Ruby, Yang and Blake. She knew what was coming next. Who was coming next.

But she wasn't asking. She just continued to sit there, head tilted, waiting.

"What?" Jaune finally said, roughly.

Saphron smiled softly. "She's beautiful."

"Who is?"

"You can be really dumb sometimes, Jaune – but you aren't an idiot."

Jaune sighed heavily.

"You already knew, didn't you?"

Saphron shrugged. "I didn't _know_ but I do know my little brother. Don't forget, I saw every little crush you had growing up. You have a certain type. Remember Russet-"

"Okay, we don't have to go there," Jaune hastily cut in. "I get your point."

"You can't deny, they have very similar body-"

"Saphron," he said firmly. "Enough."

She took one look at her brother's face and looked down, chastised. "Sorry. I didn't think this was a sore subject."

"It's not," he tried to reassure her. "I mean – not really, it was a long time ago now."

"A long time ago?"

"I had a crush on her at Beacon."

Weiss wasn't sure why as it was common knowledge amongst their friends but hearing him saying it so boldly made her stomach clench. When she thought back to those times, those wonderful happy times when everything still made some modicum of sense, she realized that he had never outright stated it before, not once. He had flirted with her, horribly. He had asked her to see a movie and then later to the school dance, the latter done in the most ridiculous way possible. But never had he ever put his feelings into words quite so straightforward.

Saphron tentatively asked, "So not anymore?"

When he didn't answer, she made a sound in her throat. "You still like her, then?"

Weiss felt her hands clench, hanging on every word, every expression.

"It's… complicated."

Jaune lifted himself up onto the counter, mirroring his sister. Leaning back against the wall, his eyes moved up to the ceiling as if in deep thought.

"We don't really have the best history," he began slowly. "I sort of… came on a little strong. All you need is confidence, right?" He pulled a face at that while Saphron groaned. "Yeah, dad's words of wisdom. I decided to put them to the test. I wish I could go back and shake myself, tell myself not to be such an idiot. But like you said – she's beautiful. Moment I saw her, that was it. I didn't see anyone else. And… well, like you said, Russet… I was too much of a chicken to ever say anything, not just with her but all the others. This time I wanted things to be different. I wanted to be a Huntsman, so talking to a girl should be a piece of cake compared to that, right? I just have to make an effort."

He closed his eyes as if trying to hide from himself.

"As you would expect, she wasn't interested. But I kept thinking that if she would just give me a chance, you know? Just one – and I could prove that I was worth it, that we could be good together," Jaune shook his head, opening his eyes. "I got ahead of myself but I was in too deep. The longer I knew her, the worse it got. She wasn't just some beautiful stranger now – she was strong, talented and graceful. I'd never met anyone like her. She was intelligent. Top of the class in tests, she made everything look so effortless. She could be cold, no doubt. But I saw the way she was with Ruby. She tried to act indifferent but you knew she cared. And her singing voice," Jaune looked at his hands in wonder. "One of the older students had a recording, I don't know where he got it from. Some event in Atlas – I don't know. But as soon as I heard it…"

When he didn't say any more, Saphron breathed out heavily. "Wow. You have it bad."

"Some students came for the Vytal Festival and there was a boy from Haven. His name was Neptune and he was everything I'm not. Handsome. Cool – and Weiss liked him. That was sort of the end of it. I still liked her but some things happened. They didn't work out but I still wasn't in the picture."

"After Beacon, she went home to Atlas and I didn't see her for almost a year. I thought I was over it, over her," he shrugged helplessly.

"But you still like her," Saphron moved from her perch then, sliding to the floor and crossing the small kitchen in a single stride. She said something else but Weiss was no longer listening, taking a step back from the door, her face red, breathing uneven.

She felt feverish and disorientated, confused.

Neptune had told her, of course. About what Jaune had done the night of the school dance. That was the moment where Weiss had to confront the fact that she had been entirely wrong about Jaune Arc. They didn't suddenly become great friends because of it, nor did she fall in love with him over it, but she did feel a deep seeded regret. Regret at her actions, regret in how she had labeled the blond boy who beyond all expectations had genuine feelings for her. He wasn't after money or fame, like she thought. He didn't care that she was a Schnee. His actions back then had shown her that.

But this… this was something different.

He felt much more strongly about her than she thought possible. And even after all this time, how could he still feel this way? A year on with so much between; wizards, maidens and Gods and the Queen of the Grimm. An entire journey across a continent while she remained in a gilded cage, asked to sing on demand like a song bird.

And the death of a very dear friend.

Even with her absence, he still cared for her. Liked her. Maybe even… loved her?

How did she feel about that?

"Weiss?" a young voice called from behind her. She nearly screamed, turning on the spot. Oscar rubbed at his eyes blearily, stifling a yawn. "What are—"

Flustered, she leapt at him, covering his mouth hastily. Oscar flailed in alarm so she put him in a headlock, silencing him by mashing his face into her side. She flinched when he accidentally bit her, aura flaring to sooth the pain.

"Be quiet," she hissed urgently, casting a fearful look at the kitchen door.

The kitchen door which was now opening.

Weiss panicked.

"Play along or they'll never find your body," she hissed before straightening up, releasing the younger boy as the Arc siblings appeared. "Oscar, you shouldn't be sneaking around at night like this – I mistook you for an intruder."

Jaune and Saphron looked them both over, surprised.

"Weiss?" Jaune questioned uncertainly, eyes moving from Weiss to Oscar and then back again.

"Jaune," she greeted calmly when she was anything but calm, unable to meet his eyes. Her stomach flipped and twirled like an errant leaf on the wind. "I didn't expect to see you awake. I feel a little parched and was coming down for a drink when I ran into this rascal."

She could feel Saphron's eyes on her.

"Y-Yeah," Oscar spoke up. "I was thirsty as well. I didn't mean to startle you," he added when he caught sight of Weiss' pointed look. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted," her smile was all teeth.

"Well come on in," Saphron ushered them through. "There is plenty water for all."

Weiss had to concentrate especially carefully on her glass so as not to spill it. It had nothing to do with wishing to avoid accidentally meeting Jaune's eye – or so she would continue to tell herself. The water was ice cold out of the tap, refreshing. Thirst quenched, she set the glass down in the sink, Oscar following her lead.

Saphron was still watching her.

"I am simply exhausted," Weiss said quickly, excusing herself. "I bid you all a good night."

She practically flew up the stairs. She doubted her feet touched more than three steps.

It was a few more hours before she finally got to sleep.

Visiting the military base first thing in the morning had always been the plan but the lack of decent rest was really getting to Weiss. As a result, she was more than a little crabby when dealing with Cordovin and the two stooges. The way they waxed on about Atlas and looked at Blake had her blood set to boil from the onset and no amount of reassurances from the targeted faunus could lower it.

It was disgusting, plain and simple. She wanted to break down that gate and throttle the lot of them. She never felt more ashamed of her homeland as she did in that moment. Was it any wonder that faunus distrusted or even outright hated Atlas if this was the sort of reception they got? How were they going to repair their reputation if this was the way they treated people from other kingdoms?

She wanted to scream.

Their failure to get onto the base and leave for Atlas was bad enough. What was to follow was somehow even worse.

She had only seen Jaune so angry once before. The way he went after Ozpin – because Ozpin was his true target, Oscar was just unfortunate collateral – had scared her. The usually mild mannered team leader was anything but, his face twisted in grief, his eyes burning with rage. A far cry from the passionate man who had unknowingly declared his feelings to her the night before. In the end, it had been Ruby to call him off. It was Ruby who he listened too.

Weiss felt helpless as he stormed off.

The whole thing reminded Weiss of Haven and his rage at Cinder.

It all lead back to Pyrrha.

She felt bad for Oscar but she understood where Jaune's anger came from. Understood the look of irritation on Nora's face, the frustration in Ren's voice. Hadn't they also felt the same, when they discovered the truth? Had they not doubted? Had they not lamented the seeming futility of their task?

They had no right to judge them.

Then Oscar went missing, Worse and worse, and worse again. What a horrible day.

They searched high and low, everywhere they could think of. But they were new to Argus. They may as well been headless chickens for all the good it did. They split up to cover more ground. Weiss focused on the tram cars and train station, fearing he may try to flee the settlement entirely, the most dangerous option. But there was no sign of him. No matter who she asked, how detailed a description she gave, no one had seen him.

It was then that she came across Ren and Nora as she trudged back to Saphron's house, the pair with cheap coffee in hand.

"Have you seen Jaune?" Ren asked immediately, a concerned look on his face, his stoic mask long since shed. "We left him for a moment but when we got back, he was gone."

Thankfully, he was nearby. It didn't take them long to find him. She just didn't think finding him would hurt quite so much. The statue of Pyrrha was like a physical blow, stealing the air from her lungs and burning her to the core. Ice blue eyes burned with tears at the mere sight of it, while Nora inhaled sharply. They very nearly spilled over at the sight of Jaune standing before it. Alone.

She felt like an outsider as Ren and Nora spoke with their team leader, not knowing if she should leave or stay. This was deeply personal, did she have the right to hear this? Had she the right to hear what she did the night before? Due to her fight with Vernal, she hadn't heard Jaune's declaration to Cinder and when Nora touched on it, dread pooled in her belly. Phantom pain burned at her abdomen and back where she knew the spear had pieced her through. Not something she wished to remember.

She had nearly died. She would have died – died without ever having seen her sister again.

But then Jaune had unlocked his semblance. He had saved her.

She couldn't help but relive his words from the night before.

Tired, emotional, she didn't notice she was alone with him until he called her name. Startled, she looked around. His teammates were already by the entrance to the park.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I feel like I should be asking you that, not the other way around," she replied softly.

His smile was weak but genuine.

"I shouldn't have taken it out on him," he said. "That was unfair. I was just so angry, hearing that she may have died for nothing. But in the end, it was her choice to follow Cinder up onto that tower. She was a Huntress. She believed she could make a difference, that she could stop her. I'm still angry at Ozpin but…"

What could she say? Pyrrha's likeness taunted her from the corner of her eye.

"I miss her," she blurted out. The tears stopped threatening and fell down her cheeks, one by one. "I miss her so much."

Jaune moved as if to embrace her but stopped, arms awkwardly raised before stepping back.

"Hug me, you idiot," she commanded, wiping the uncertain look from his face. Weiss fell into his arms, sobbing silently. His warmth enveloped her completely as she lost control, the weight of everything finally becoming too much. When she was done some time later, she pulled away gingerly.

"Sorry," Weiss wiped at her eyes, knowing she looked a fright. Her nose was blocked with snot and her throat felt rough. Her cheeks burned. "I think I needed that. I'm a little strung out right now."

"Anytime," he said with a fond look. "We better head back to the house, maybe one of the others has found him. And I think I may have thought of a way to get into Atlas," he looked to the sky thoughtfully.

Weiss felt surprise. "What? How?"

He winked. "That's my secret. Come on."

In the end, Oscar was found safe and sound – back at the house, waiting for all of them with a new wardrobe to match. Jaune apologised and then laid out his plan despite Qrow's downright depressing thoughts on the matter. His stupid, insane plan that was dangerous, foolhardy and not to mention highly illegal. It was a testament to their desperation that they agreed to it in the end and without much fuss. Weiss was to play an integral part, using her status to get onto an airship with the old woman Maria hidden inside her luggage, all so they could highjack it and pick up the rest who would be waiting on a cliff outside the city. Blake would deal with the radar station so they weren't tracked, the ex-White Fang having experience with such things.

Then they all turned in for the night.

She slept for an hour, perhaps two. It wasn't quite midnight when she awoke and again, her brain refused to cooperate with her. Only this time she wasn't thinking about magic and Gods, or even their upcoming foray into criminality.

No. She was thinking about a certain blond.

She couldn't get back to sleep.

Again.

It wasn't the kitchen light that was on this time but the living room. If not for that, she might have thought it was all a dream, reliving the night previous. Jaune looked up from a photo album as she descended.

The day had more in store for her. She couldn't catch a break.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey."

Awkward didn't even begin to describe what she felt.

"Can't sleep?" he asked lightly.

Weiss shook her head. "It seems I have become somewhat of an insomniac, much to my displeasure," curious eyes glanced over the album in his hands. "What are you looking at?"

He waved her over. When she sat beside him, he held it open for her to see.

Eight faces greeted her, all blond haired and blue eyed. Unlike the picture on the shelf that they had all seen, they were much older, perhaps only a year or two short of Jaune's entrance to Beacon. Jaune stood in the middle, the only boy – surrounded on all sides by his seven sisters. Saphron had her arm around his shoulder, standing on his left, while another of his sisters mirrored her on the right, only she had short hair, shorter than Jaune's.

"That's Viridian. She's the oldest," he explained. "Then it's Daph – short for Daffodil," he pointed to the girl in the bottom right, seated by his leg. Standing, she would be almost as tall as Jaune was – the tallest of the Arc girls. She also had short hair. "Then it's the twins – Azure and Lapis," identical except for their ponytails which they wore on opposite sides, they were behind Jaune, Viridian and Saphron, leaning forward and towering over their siblings by virtue of stranding on a bench. "Then it's Saphron, Turquoise, and then me." Turquoise had hair almost as long as Weiss herself, brushed to a fine sheen and as straight as an arrow, the girl tucked into Viridian's other side, glasses askew.

All eight of them were beaming at the camera.

Weiss couldn't help but compare it to the stiff family portrait found in her home, back in Atlas.

"This is a wonderful picture," she said warmly.

The rest followed a similar theme. They weren't all together in all the photos but they always had wide, infectious smiles. Weiss laughed at a picture of Jaune getting hit in the face by a water balloon, Azure and Lapis cackling as they rushed out of frame, and then smiled so hard her face hurt at a picture of Jaune and Saphron burying a sleeping Daffodil up to her neck in sand at the beach, Turquoise trying and failing at looking displeased in the background.

It wasn't until they were half way through the album that Weiss noticed they were practically touching, shoulder to shoulder, her thigh brushing his in moments of movement. She caught a whiff of his shampoo – or was it his body wash? Or just him? – a mild, musky scent that had butterflies clamoring to escape her stomach via her throat. Swallowing, she tried to subtly shift away but to her horror found herself leaning in instead.

"Can I ask you something?" he suddenly asked, though his eyes remained locked on the album. He absentmindedly flipped the page.

"Of course."

"How much did you hear last night?"

There was a moment of silence that to Weiss felt like stretched an age. The ticking of the wall clock felt abnormally loud, pounding through her ears – or was that her heart? For a brief second, she thought about lying, playing dumb, anything to avoid this confrontation. She wasn't ready.

But one look at his face and she made her decision.

"All of it."

She wouldn't be a coward.

Jaune groaned, his ears flushing scarlet. "That… was what I thought, though I had hoped otherwise."

Weiss steadied herself, straightening up, hands neatly folded in her lap. "I wish to apologise. That conversation was private and I had no right to eavesdrop. It was rude and selfish of me."

"Weiss-"

She shook her head, holding up a hand. "No. It is unforgivable and conduct unbefitting a friend. You deserve to be mad-"

"I'm not mad," Jaune cut in quickly.

"You should be. You should be furious with me. I had no right and I'm sorry," she bowed her head. "I know this doesn't make up for what I did but it must be said."

Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss, look at me."

Most of his hand was on the material of her nightgown, the warmth of his palm dimmed through the fabric. All but his thumb which crossed the collar and brushed exposed skin, the delicate slope of her collarbone. Weiss felt the hair on her neck stand on end. When she lifted her head, he was smiling at her, though his ears were still red.

"Like I said, I'm not mad," he explained. "Embarrassed? Oh yeah, I want the ground to open up and swallow me," he gave a strained laugh. "I didn't exactly want you to hear all that after all this time. We have enough on our plate without my feelings getting tossed into the mix."

"Were you ever going to tell me?" she asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

He shook his head.

"You were always very honest about how you felt about me," Jaune removed his hand, Weiss finding that she missed it. "And I doubt that has changed at all. I know things are different now than they were back then but… well, I'm me and you're you."

"What does that mean?"

"You're amazing, Weiss," he confessed earnestly. "I've always thought so but these last couple of weeks, the things you've been through," the look in his eyes shook her, the compassion and admiration. "Leaving your family the way you did must have been one of the toughest decisions you've ever made and now we're heading back there. It must be troubling for you and yet you're facing it head on without complaint. I wish… I wish I had that sort of composure. That sort of control. I get emotional, I lash out."

"You give me too much credit. I cried all over you today, remember? And you said I could be cold."

Jaune grimaced. "I did, didn't I?"

"You were right," Weiss admitted. "I can be cold – and I was coldest to you most of all. I'm sorry about that, truly. It was unwarranted."

"I was annoying,"

"Sometimes," Weiss arched an eyebrow. "You were really bad at talking to girls and while you couldn't take a hint, I overreacted. I thought of you unkindly because of past experiences, not truly for anything you did. You didn't deserve that. If there is one thing I've learned about you, Jaune, it is that you are genuine. Maybe you let your emotions get the best of you, maybe you lash out – but they are your genuine feelings. It isn't always a bad thing. You are a good person. I wish I could be like that, sometimes."

"You are a good person," Jaune insisted. "And now you give me too much credit."

"You don't give yourself enough," Weiss countered. "Thank you for watching over Ruby when we couldn't. As her team, we should have been there for her. As her partner, I should have been by her side but I wasn't. You were. Thank you for the kindness you have shown me, the friend you've been to me even when I wasn't much of a friend in return," Weiss took a shuddering breath, "Thank you for loving someone like me."

He looked at her, his expression overwhelmed. "I—Uh," he coughed, looking away. "I mean," he tried again, clearing his throat. "She needed our help so of course I was going with her. Anyone would do it."

"Not anyone. Not after…" Not with the loss of Pyrrha still so fresh. "It can't have been easy, following Ruby halfway across the world after what happened."

Jaune picked at a piece of cotton thread from his pants. "And, well, it isn't hard."

Weiss quirked her head. "What isn't?"

"Loving you," he said quietly. "Loving you isn't hard."

His face joined his ears, glowing bright. Weiss felt her own face explode.

"Gweh," the abnormal sound spilled from her lips, her hands rising quickly to cover her mouth. "Ah, well, right."

"So," Jaune asked haltingly. "Where do we go from here?"

That was the million lien question.

What did she feel?

She wasn't sure she had the answer to that. She had never felt this way before. Whatever attraction she had felt towards Neptune had been fleeting, a flash in the pan, having more to do with his handsomeness than any sort of real substance. He had shown up one day and she had lost her head. It had been shallow and easily discarded, just as Neptune's interest in her had been. It had felt nothing like this.

But what was _this_?

"I don't know," the words slipped out before she could stop them. She tried to clamp her jaw shut but the words just kept pouring out in a tumble, desperate to be heard. "I don't know how I feel about you," her hands started shaking. "I've never really thought about it and everything has been so hectic and we haven't seen each other in so long, everything has changed and I don't even know where to start. Things were rough between us for the longest time. It is all rather confusing but I do know one thing,"

She took a deep breath.

"I would really, really, really like to take you to dinner sometime," her blood pounded, head throbbing from the pressure, "or maybe we could go see a movie? When things have settled down and we aren't dealing with—with—"

"The fate of the world?" Jaune supplied, eyes wide.

"Yes," Weiss deflated like a balloon, sagging. "Yes, the fate of the world."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

He looked incredulous.

Weiss felt her lips twitch.

The tables had truly turned.

"Say yes!"

Jaune jerked around in alarm, Weiss feeling her heart stop in horror. Crouched on the stairs, Saphron waved at them cheekily with the biggest shit eating grin either had ever witnessed.

"Oh," Weiss said faintly, clutching her chest wanting to die.

"S-Saphron," Jaune not-quite screamed. "Get lost!"

"Is that any way to talk to your sis—hey! Don't shove me," Jaune had moved from the couch so quick, Weiss had failed to register his absence until he was pushing his older sister up the stairs.

"Hey! Quit it!"

"Get! Get out of here!" he ordered furiously, voice cracking.

Saphron laughed in delight. "Oh, I have to write mum and dad, they are going to be thrilled!"

"Don't you dare!" he hissed as they disappeared from sight. There was some thudding from the upper floor, furious whispers and then eerie silence.

Weiss buried her face in her hands.

She had never been so mortified in her life.

"Oh my god," she whispered between fingers. The only consolation was that it was Saphron and not Yang, which meant Jaune was going to be taking the brunt of the teasing. Weiss just hoped that the older woman refrained from doing it around their teams. Yang would go for the throat without hesitation.

It took awhile for her to calm down, a long, drawn out sigh escaping her. She was about to stand when a sound on the stairs drew her attention, surprised when she found Jaune staring at her intently.

"About that date," he said.

Weiss beamed.

**AN: Just a random idea that popped into my head a few days ago and I couldn't help but write it. There may be a follow up chapter in the future but probably not until after I watch volume 7.**

**Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**


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